I'm proud to say that this blog is just 4 days shy of being one year old! Happy 1st blogiversary "My Cupcake Notebook"!
To celebrate, obviously a cake was in order. It is, however, a mix of three recipes that have been featured in this blog, the Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream from the Chocolate and Vanilla Layer Cake, the Red Velvet Cake recipe (with a twist) and the DIY Colored Sugar.
A delicious combination, I must say! And so pretty!
It is moist and sweet, and the frosting is soft and fluffy.
Pink
Velvet Cake
Ingredients
(for
a cake pan of 20cm)
- 150g flour (sifted)
- 1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp of salt
- 150g sugar
- 175 mL of vegetal oil (sunflower or mild olive oil)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- ¼ tsp pink paste food coloring
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 120 mL buttermilk (add a tsp of lemon juice to 120 mL of milk and let it sit for five minutes)
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbs white vinegar
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven at 175ºC (350ºF)
- Prepare buttermilk: mix the lemon juice to the milk and let it sit.
- Grease the cake pan with a little bit of butter and sprinkle it with flour.
- With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk up sugar and oil until well combined. Add the egg while beating and then add the vanilla extract and the food coloring until well blended.
- In another bowl, mix the flour with the cocoa and salt. Blend both mixes by adding the flour mix in three portions, alternating with the buttermilk and combining it well after each.
- Mix vinegar and baking soda in a small glass and add it to the mix as soon as it produces foam.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan.
- Bake for 40 minutes – to check if the cake is done, insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, it will be.
- Let the cake sit for 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven and then transfer to a rack in order to let it cool down.
- Once has cooled down, cut horizontally with a serrated knife in three equal parts.
To
assemble the cake:
- Pour two or three spoonfuls of frosting on the first base of the cake and smooth it down with a spatula. Cover with another of the bases and repeat.
- Cover the cake with a thin layer of frosting.
- Refrigerate for half an hour.
- Cover the cake with the remaining frosting, smoothing it with a spatula. Put sprinkles on it.
Chocolate
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
(to
decorate two 20cm cakes)
- 3 egg whites
- 200g sugar
- 240g butter (room temperature, cold)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 115g milk chocolate, melted
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
Directions
- Mix the egg whites with the sugar in a double boiler. Heat the mixture while stirring until the sugar has completely melted and it's opaque. To chech if the sugar has melted, rub some mixture between your fingers; if you do not feel any sugar in it, take the pot away from the heat.
- Add the vanilla extract. Whisk the mixture up at high speed until it's completely cold.
- Add the butter, cubed. Add only two or three cubes at a time, whipping up at every addition. Repeat until you have used all the butter. Whip until the buttercream looks smooth and light.
- Add the melted chocolate and the cocoa powder until fully incorporated.
Attention:
if the meringue was not completely cold after whipping it up, the
butter will melt when you add it and the buttercream will be too
liquid. If this happens, put the bowl in the fridge for half an hour
until you have reached the desired consistency and whisk it up
again.
This
buttercream can be stored in the fridge for a week and in the
freezer for six-eight weeks. To thaw it, put it on the fridge
overnight. In both cases, whip it for 5 minutes before using it.
You
may buy bottled egg whites in order to avoid having to throw away
the yolks. In that case, these are the conversion in grams:
10
egg whites = 300gr
5
egg whites = 150gr
3
egg whites = 90gr
Thank you for reading! Here are the pdfs with the recipes: Pink Velvet Cake and Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
Anna
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